Ch. 3
The fair's bright lights sparkle around them and the smell of cotton candy, hotdogs, and caramel apples guides them through the gates. Rides of all kinds turn and swing around them, delighted screams from their riders filling the scented air.
It feels like home.
Ami smiles and turns to Mina, pointing at one ride that swings riders upside down high in the air, "I want to get on that one first."
Mina's eyes widen, Ami's excitement mirrored in them. "Oh absolutely, let's go!" She turns to the group behind them. "Any takers?"
Ochako pales visibly as she watches the ride swing, "I'll pass." For someone with a gravity quirk it was surprising that that would turn her pale.
Kaminari, however, pumps a fist into the air. "Hell yeah! Kirishima, you in?"
"Yeah man! What about you, Bakugo?"
The explosion-quirk user had been silent the whole ride to the fair, not even speaking when the fair attendants had put on his ride wristband for him. Now he watched the ride in question with an uninterested look, arms crossed. "I fucking guess." He says finally, looking away. "But if we die then that's on you."
Kirishima grins and snags the blond by the arm as the group leaves Uraraka, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Tsu behind to get on. Midoriya's mother had brought the ones that couldn't fit in Kaminari's car, dropping them off with a few well wishes and a big smile.
The line is short so very quickly the five are buckled and secured in on one side of the ride, the anticipation spilling out of Mina like a shaken can of soda.
"This is going to ROCK!" The pink girl's feet swing excitedly as the platform below them lowers. Her face is hidden behind the harness that holds them in, but the smile in her voice is obvious.
"You better hope we don't fall out." Bakugo this time, but the anticipation in his own voice takes a little of the bite away from his tone.
As the ride begins to swing and spin Kaminari and Kirishima are already yelling, their excited cheers loud in the air. These rides had always been her favorite back at home, the more thrilling the better. After she'd gotten tall enough to get on one, she'd never looked back.
The first time the ride goes upside down is when Mina starts screaming, making Ami squeal with laughter. Next to her she hears the tiniest laugh come from Bakugo, surprising her. Despite being all doom and gloom for the whole ride to the fairground, he seemed to be coming out of that now?
Once they get off that ride, it's onto the next biggest one, following that same pattern until Kaminari announces he's hungry. They split up, going off in search of something they each want to eat.
"So..." Mina says, turning to Ami as they wait in line for hotdogs. "I went by your room after I got back to the dorms and you weren't there."
Ami presses her lips together. She'd kinda hoped she'd be able to keep the whole "rematch" thing to herself.
"Where were you?"
Shrugging a little, Ami looks up at the blinking red and yellow lights at the top of the food stand. "Bakugo brought up that rematch thing again, so I figured it would get him off my ass if I did it."
Mina purses her lips, thinking. "Is that why he came with us?" She asks after a moment of consideration. "Originally he told Kaminari to leave him alone when he asked if he wanted to come along."
Ami nods, stepping forward with the line, "He lost again and I bet on the fair."
"Ami..."
She sighs, already knowing what the warning tone in Mina's voice was leading up to. "I didn't invite him because I wanted him here, I did it because he insulted us and I knew he'd hate it."
The look she receives is skeptical, "No one can hate a fair. Not even 'Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight'."
Ami scrunches up her face and turns to her friend, "Please don't tell me that's his hero name."
Mina bites back a smile but fails, "Not gonna lie, I thought he was kidding. It's a mouthful and awful but," She shrugs. "It's his."
Ami's own hero name, Mistique, was a play on words, referring to the mist-like smoke that came from her quirk and her own habit of not showing off her quirk unless necessary, leading to it being a 'mystery' for the most part. It was short, sweet, and to the point, fitting her. However...
Bakugo's name is just as aggressive and extra as he is.
The girls order their food and go to a nearby table to sit down and eat, giggling quietly to themselves as they walk. It was true that the name was atrocious, but it fit him.
"So, have you designed your hero costume yet?" Mina asks between fries. "You didn't have them at Seiai, right?"
Ami nods, "We only had our uniforms but I had some ideas sketched out that I turned in when Mr. Aizawa asked." That had been exciting, especially hearing she'd be allowed to ask for support items if needed. It was something Seiai never offered despite all the requests from it's students.
"That's gotta be exciting! What's it gonna look like?"
Ami grins, "That's a surprise. I'll show you when I get it though."
Mina pouts playfully, taking a bite of her hotdog. "No fair," she mumbles between chews. "I bet it's so cool."
"Bet what's so cool?"
The girls turn around to see Uraraka and Midoriya standing behind them, all smiles. Uraraka holds a big All Might bear in her arms, hugging it close.
"That's so cute!" Mina squeals, her earlier disappointment gone without a trace. "Did you win that Izuku?"
Midoriya smiles, a light blush tinting his cheeks. He scratches the back of his head sheepishly and nods, "Turns out my aim is pretty good even without using my quirk." He explains. The games here at the fair didn't allow quirk use, to make it "fair" for everyone.
Ami had heard about how Izuku had gotten his quirk at the peak of The Fall, though, once he'd been outed by the L.o.V's boss. She was honestly surprised to see him on her first day, having known the backlash he faced beforehand from the citizens taking shelter at UA and the fight that followed which claimed lives at its worst. That time was a topic no one spoke about anymore though, with it being a dark time in their country's history that no one liked to even think about.
"Balloon game?" Ami asks, pushing those dark thoughts aside.
Midoriya nods, "Kacchan said the games are rigged but I thought it was pretty easy."
"They are rigged. The balloon shit was pretty easy looking though." Bakugo's voice approaches from the other side of the table, making Ami turn back around to see him.
He holds a stuffed bunny fashioned after the #5 hero Mirko. When his eyes meet Ami's he tosses it at her. "Here," he says, gruffly. "They made me pick a prize and I didn't want one so I figured this was a better win than making me come here."
Ami looks down at the bunny's white fur and touches it gently. "This is absolutely acceptable," She looks up and gives him a small smile. "Thank you."
Bakugo snorts softly and shoves his hands into his pockets, "It's not a big deal."
She feels some of her ice from earlier start to thaw as she goes to throw away her trash. Bakugo was still a narcissistic dick, but he had his better moments apparently.
The rest of the night passes quickly up until Ami decides she wants to win a light-up flower crown to wear around the fairgrounds from a basketball game.
"Can you even throw that far, Shortstack?" Bakugo asks, tone skeptical. "You're short as hell and that's a distance."
Ami narrows her eyes at him and thrusts her bunny against his chest for him to hold. "Shut up, Bakugo. I got this." She mumbles, handing her money to the stand attendant before grabbing one of her three basketballs. "I only need to get one in anyway."
Spectacularly she misses the first two balls, and the laughs from Bakugo only get her heated. She whips around and levels him with a glare, "You don't have to be an asshole about it." She snaps. Once again, he was rubbing her the wrong way and making her take back any pleasant thoughts she had about him prior. Of course that act wouldn't last for long.
"I can do it for you, ya know." He says, barely hiding a smirk as he picks up the last basketball. "I think this game needs a height requirement so it doesn't get your hopes up."
Ami snatches the ball from his hand and sticks her tongue out at him before throwing and sending it through the hoop. "Ha!" She takes her purple flower crown from the table and snatches her bunny from Bakugo's hands before marching away.
He catches up to her and scoffs, "Damn, you can't take a joke huh?"
She was mad because his reaction was embarrassing. Normally the game would've been easy, but with him watching it just... threw her off. "I can, but you were being rude about it." She mutters. "I'm good at fair games. Better at them than you that's for damn sure."
"Yeah I fucking doubt that."
Ami stops and looks up at him, putting her free hand on her hip, "You wanna bet?"
One to never turn down a challenge, Bakugo crosses his arms, "Yeah, I do." He points to the balloon stand where several stuffed animals hang. "We can start off with the baby shit for you though."
Ami hands her bunny to Mina, who sighs but says nothing, and the two walk off to the next game. She was competitive, probably just as much so as Bakugo was. She wasn't going to let him just talk shit like that and get away with it. Especially not after all he'd said and done today.
Bakugo pays for both of their games despite her protests, and once the attendant places their 8 darts down infront of them, they seperate and get ready.
"Whoever hits the most balloons wins. Simple enough?" He asks.
Ami ignores him and throws her first dart, neatly popping a bright blue balloon.
He scoffs softly and throws his own, hard. The force of the dart pops two balloons as it hits the board. "Fine, be that way." He snaps, but the smugness in his tone is apparent.
Ami throws another dart, then another, popping a balloon every time she goes. At this point it was rage and determination fueling her, and she'd be damned if she lost. One particularly hard throw, however, sends the dart bouncing back and straight at Bakugo.
He sidesteps, missing his own balloon in the process, then levels her with a glare, "You don't have to throw them so fucking hard, you know."
She shrugs, going to retrieve her lost dart. "Neither do you," She replies. "That first throw was real aggressive." They were tied now anyway, with one dart each left. When she returns back to the stand they both take aim.
"You got this Ami!" Uraraka calls.
Ami aims... and throws
POP!
She gives Bakugo a triumphant smile as his dart lands hard between a balloon he'd already popped and the full one next to it, millimeters from hitting it. "I win." She chirps.
Bakugo points to the next stand, annoyed. "Not yet. We're going two out of three. Like I said, this was baby shit anyway."
Ami gives her prize to Mina, a stuffed dragon wearing a costume mimicking Ryukyu's, before heading to the next game. It's a ring tossing game, one that Bakugo wins stupidly fast.
He couldn't be more smug.
With two down and one to go, they settle on a water gun game. Shoot the target, keep your aim, and send the stuffed plushie all the way to the top before the other person to win. Simple.
I'm great at this game. Ami grins as she takes her seat, holding her bunny between her thighs so it doesn't fall. "Get ready to lose, Kacchan." she quips.
Bakugo grunts and at the end of the countdown, they shoot.
Ami hits the target dead on immediately, sending the stuffed animal on the pillar shooting up.
"What the fuck?" Next to her, the blond grunts and adjusts his aim, having overshot the target.
Before they know it, the winning alarm goes off above Ami's seat number, sending her standing up and jumping with glee. "Two out of three!" She gives him a sideways look. "Or do you want another 'rematch'?"
"Tch." Bakugo turns away as the attendant hands her a small All Might plushie. "I'll let you have this."
Ami climbs off her stool and walks over to him, leaning over his shoulder to drop the plush neatly in his lap, "Now we're even."
He rolls his eyes but doesn't reply, instead inspecting the small toy in his lap without a word.
As they head home, cotton candy, toys, and caramel apples bought and bagged up, Ami looks out the window and smiles. The night had gone better than expected, and despite dealing with Bakugo's shit again she still had a good time. She looks at the bunny in her hands before taking a chance and looking over at him.
He's looking out the window, eyes trained on the street lights flying by. He grips the small All Might plush in his hand, fiddling with it absentmindedly. It was a surprise he hadn't given it away like the prize he'd won from the ring toss, which he'd given to a little girl who'd been desperately trying to win one.
She'd given him a big, gap-toothed smile before scurrying off to show her dad happily. Had she not been watching, Ami would've sworn the small smile on his face had been her imagination.
If only he was that nice all the time.
"Good Morning!" Yaoyorozu chirps, smiling up at Ami as she walks out into the common room Saturday morning. "We got you some breakfast."
The sun was shining through the windows, illuminating the room and the plates the girls sat around. There was one between Mina and Tsu that had been untouched, so Ami takes a seat to eat.
"Did you guys have fun at the fair last night?" Hagakure asks from across the table. The invisible girl had taken some getting used to, but her bubbly personality had made that super easy. "We're going tonight!"
Ami nods, "It was just like the fairs I remember back home." Right down to the fair food and rigged chance games.
"Did you win any prizes?"
"A flower crown and a dragon plushie I gave to Mina."
Uraraka covers her mouth but can't hide the smile as she chews, "Didn't Bakugo win you one too?"
Eyes go wide around the table and Ami sighs. She had preferred to not mention that.
"He didn't win me anything," She clarifies. "He was probably being competitive while playing after Midoriya and he won it as a result. You heard what he said. Weren't you with them?"
Uraraka opens her mouth to respond before she shuts it, choosing instead to shrug. "I was."
Weird. Ok.
"Good morning, ladies." Hanta's voice approaches from behind, a smile on his face. "Ready for round 2 of the fair tonight?"
"I'm getting a ton of cotton candy," Jiro says. "I almost ate Ochako's entire bag."
The group starts to chatter on about what they plan on doing once they get there, but Ami tunes it out as she eats before excusing herself so she can take her plate to the kitchen area to wash it.
She wasn't used to having classmates that spoke to her, but it wasn't that solely. She had had friends at Seiai, but they were in other classes and different years. Socializing with her class as a whole, was what was new. They included her in things and went out of their way for a girl they really just met. It was... nice.
Footsteps approach Ami as she dries her plate and she turns to see Bakugo approaching with his own plate in hand.
"Feeling less competitive this morning?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. Yesterday had been full of it, so she hoped he'd calmed down.
"You wish. We still have training to do today so you better not slack off."
Ami sighs and puts her plate away. So much for that. "But it's the weekend, you don't have plans or something?"
"You said yourself that this was a 'hero school'," He replies, turning on the water at the sink. "Villains don't stop being villains on weekends, so why should I stop training on them?"
He has a point. "I guess you're right." She sounds less than enthusiastic even to her own ears. "What time?"
"11:30."
Ami frowns and pulls her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "That's in 40 minutes."
Bakugo puts his dish away and shoves his hands into his pockets, "Yeah I know. That gives you enough time to get ready and get down there." And without another word, he leaves.
She stares after him for a moment before rubbing her face, annoyed. I could just not show up. The idea is tempting, but having him show up at her door after she didn't... wasn't. So she heads up to her room to grab clothes before heading to the showers, hoping soon that he loses interest.
Bakugo is already there when she walks through the door, in the same spot as last time, stretching. Just like before, he doesn't look up when she approaches, keeping his back to her.
"You know," She begins, dropping her bag to the floor. "If I'd been a villain you would've been screwed."
Bakugo snorts, the sound laden with amusement. "If you were a villain I would've heard you coming before you even got here. That loud ass music you were playing before you opened the door would've given you away."
Ami purses her lips and pulls her phone from the waistband of her shorts, dropping it into the front pocket of her bag by her feet. She always listened to music when she walked around, zoning off into her own little world. Unfortunately in her annoyance she'd left her earbuds in her dorm, so she'd resorted to playing it aloud as she walked. She shrugs, pulling her t-shirt off over her head and wriggling out of her sweats to drop them in her bag too. If she was hoping to keep up with him she'd need to be able to move easier, so she'd put on a pair of her dolphin hem shorts and a black sports bra underneath.
"After I almost 'killed you' last time we fought, I was thinking this time since this is our first time actually training together that we should without out quirks for the first couple of minutes." Bakugo stands up, stretching, and turns to face her. "Don't want you to get h-" He stops abruptly, looking her over with a furrow in his brow.
"...What?" Ami shifts, suddenly self conscious, then looks down at her clothes. Am I not allowed to train in this? Seiai had special outfits for their students to train in while they were on campus, so maybe it was the same here?
His eyes snap back up to hers and he snorts softly, "Nothing, that just doesn't look like it'll protect you much." He looks off to the side, "And I don't feel like playing nurse if you get hurt."
Ami rolls her eyes and walks over, stopping in front of him. "It's easier to move this way. That'll be what keeps me from getting hurt."
He raises a skeptical eyebrow at her when he turns back. "Don't think I'm gonna hold back just because you're a girl, Shortstack. You don't look like you weight shit and I'm bigger than you. I doubt-"
Before he can finish his sentence, she drops, sweeping her leg to knock his feet out from underneath him. He hits the ground immediately, blinking hard, before looking at her in shock. Then he sucks in a breath.
"What the fuck-"
"You being bigger than me doesn't mean shit." She says, annoyed. "Don't underestimate me." Standing back up, she offers him her hand again. "This is the second time I've knocked you on your ass, after all."
Bakugo looks up at her and scrunches up his nose, "Fine. Noted." This time he takes the hand she offers and she helps him up off the ground.
"So," She continues. "You said no quirks first, right?"